THE HEADLINE

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Standing in the crowded railway station Sandy saw the young man, sporting stubble and spiky hair, with a large guitar case with him getting down from Howrah-Mumbai express.

“Welcome to Mumbai, sir.” Sandy said, teasing his partner.

“Shut up, Sandy. I am too tired to listen to your gibberish now.”

Sandy gave him a wide grin and then went on to call a taxi.

“So, how did your last assignment go?” asked Sandy once they were in the taxi.

“Ah! It went just fine. It’s this task in Mumbai that I am worried for.”

“Don’t worry bhai, you will be just fine. After all in this task I shall be your partner in crime, isn’t it?” He exposed his pearly white teeth again.

The taxi stopped at the red light. Sandy kept on blabbering and his friend nodded unconsciously. Finally they arrived at a hotel. Sandy gave the taxi driver money and his wide grin.

***

It was 10 in the morning. Sandy was getting ready for the ‘performance’. His friend was nervous and making a joint that would hopefully clear out his mind. After a few drags, the two men went out. Sandy stopped suddenly and ran towards the room. His friend followed him.

“What is the matter now?”

“How are we going to perform without the instrument you idiot.” Answered Sandy, now holding the black guitar case with him. “Hurry now”.

***

It was 11 AM thanks to the Mumbai traffic.

“STOP !”

“What now?” said Sandy looking bewildered.

“Isn’t this the way to the famous Siddhivinayak temple?” asked his friend.

“Yes, it is. So what?”

“Lets pray.”

For the first time Sandy was silent. He could not utter a single word and stared wide eyed at his friend who was now taking of his shoes.

“B-B-But aren’t you?”

“Oh! That? I believe He is everywhere.”

After an hour they were back in the taxi.

“So how was your meeting with God?” the grin returned on Sandy’s face as he asked the question.

“Fine. Go on. Tease me. Taunt me. But you just can’t deny the fact that there is one Supreme Power guiding us all.”

“Sure I do”, replied sandy almost immediately, “It’s called Money.”

“Don’t you have enough?”

“Enough is not enough, my dear friend.” Sandy replied instantly.

“If I were you, I would have left this thing years ago. You know, I just can’t sleep at night because of it.”

“Why do you need to sleep at night when you have pubs & bars all around here? Oh! You don’t drink… its against…” Sandy was interrupted.

“No, it’s because I don’t want to drink.”

The taxi stopped. They have finally reached the destination.

Now the work starts. They will be in the Headlines of every newspaper tomorrow. Sandy thought.

The two men went ahead. Sandy was both excited and nervous. The other man stopped abruptly. Ran towards the taxi and got the black guitar case out.

***

The other morning Sandy was viewing the morning newspaper. He was right. They are in the headlines of the newspaper. It read:

MUMBAI CHIEF MINISTER ASSASSINATED

Mumbai. 21/12/2012. Friday

"…One of the two assassins was shot dead. Ballistic team have confirmed the use of a M82A1 Barett .50 caliber rifle.  A black guitar case was found which was used for carrying the weapon. The terrorist who was shot dead has been identified as one Wasim Muhammad…"

'METAPHORS'

Note : Terms 'he', 'it', 'they' etc. are used as nouns wherever they are enclosed in inverted comas.

Broken and wretched ‘it’ fell on the earth. The pain was unbearable. A month from now, it has been soaring high up in the sky. People saw it with awe and amazement. The happiness, the applaud, the audience. It’s all gone. All remains is a memory. ‘It’ has always been ‘his’ favourite. Since childhood, ‘it’ was ‘his’ only companion. ‘They’ always told ‘him’ to part ways from ‘it’ but ‘he’ never listened to ‘them’ and till now ‘he’ thought he was right. But now, with ‘it’ lying on the earth, ‘he’ wondered, “Was he really?”

***

Memories from the past played ‘his’ mind. ‘Him’ and ‘it’,  right from the childhood have been the best of the friends.

“I don’t know who you are. I even don’t know what you are. Still I like you. I am happy when I am with you. I just want to let go the world and be with you forever.” He would say to ‘it’ more than often.

“I depend on you. It depends on you, how you mould me. How you shape me. I shall be what you want me to be. But just don’t take me as reality or one day that will be the reason for the tears in your eyes.” ‘It’ warned ‘him’.

***

Days, Weeks, Years passed. ‘He’ grew up. And as ‘he’ grew up, ‘it’ took a more precise and defined shape.

“Damn! I have to choose between ‘you’ and ‘them’.” ‘He’ said while preparing for the exams.

“Do as you wish. Choose whatever path you want to tread. But do choose the road of happiness.” ‘It’ said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Choose the road of happiness” ‘He’ said imitating ‘it’. ‘He’ was angry.

“As if I didn’t know that.” ‘He’ continued. “The problem is, I don’t know where the road to Happiness is.”

‘It’ smiled, hovering above ‘his’ head. ‘It’ knew the future.

***

A couple of years have passed. Through some ups and downs, ‘he’ and ‘it’ were still together. Thanks to ‘her’, that ‘it’ was still with ‘him’ and the bond was stronger than ever. ‘She’ has always been an inspiration for ‘him’ and that inspiration was the only think that kept ‘him’ and ‘it’ together. Eventually, ‘he’ and ‘it’ almost became one. ‘He’ was happy and ‘it’ was now more precise in its shape.

But then there were ‘them’ waiting for ‘it’ to fall down. ‘It’ has always known the fate. It’s always the same. Only a few can merge into reality. Only a few ‘It(s)’can merge with ‘them’ and make ‘him’ happy. This was not going to be that case.

‘They’ were all ready to attack the bond. ‘They’ arrived with long swords of “money”. They attacked with maces of “reasons”. They used the strategies of “prejudices” and “experiences”. ‘They’ were called “People of the World” and they lived in a place called “Society”. ‘He’, unfortunate enough to have been born amongst ‘them’, had to choose between ‘it’ or ‘them’. As a matter of fact, ‘he’ never cared for ‘them’. The problem was that ‘he’ has to choose between ‘it’ and ‘her’.

‘He’ was, as always, confused. ‘He’ didn’t care about the ‘Society’. Neither did ‘he’ care for ‘them’; ‘People of the World’ as they were known were what ‘him’ has despised the most for their dark hearts and bright faces. ‘He’ only cared for ‘her’ who helped ‘him’ to be with ‘it’. Inspired ‘him’ to always stick together with ‘it’.

But now ‘he’ has to choose between ‘her’ and ‘it’.

He remembered what ‘it’ always used to say:

“… just don’t take me as reality or one day that will be the reason for the tears in your eyes.”

‘He’ has made the decision.

***

An old man, worn out by the ever turning ‘wheel of time’, came beside him when ‘he’ was mourning ‘it’s’ death. A tear rolled down the eyes of ‘the old man’. As he patted on ‘his’ shoulder and walked away slowly muttering something. ‘He’ could only catch a few words. The words were enough to make him realise what actually ‘it’ was. The words of the old man echoed in ‘his’ ears as ‘he’ cried mournfully before the now dead ‘it’. The old man’s words now echoed in his ears:

“Reasons of the World’ took over man and in his search for reality, once again ‘it’ has perished.

Once again a ‘Dream’ has perished.”

© Shreyansh Chouradia